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Central Pa. woman's beating detailed in complaint

The Associated Press

Updated:
01/03/2014 09:18:18 AM EST

TYRONE, Pa.—State police say a central Pennsylvania man claimed his mother was badly beaten by a burglar, but that her texts and phone calls to relatives—and blood found on her son's clothes—show he beat her with a sledgehammer while looking for prescription pills shortly after being released from a drug rehab center.

The Altoona Mirror (http://bit.ly/191WwEF) 30-year-old Matthew James Baldessaro, of Tyrone, allegedly beat his mother just before noon Tuesday, not shortly before midnight as was originally reported by several media outlets.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Baldessaro who faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 14 on attempted homicide and other charges.